Carlisle United have made goalkeeper Tomas Holy their second signing of the summer.
The stopper joins the Blues on a two-year deal after leaving League One side Ipswich Town.
Holy, who has gained youth internatioanl caps for the Czech Republic, has spent the last three years with the Tractor Boys - although he played nine times for Port Vale during a loan spell in League Two.
But most of his time playing in England has seen the stopper feature in League One, having spent a successful three years at Gillingham prior to joining Ipswich.
He made over 100 appearances at Priestfield and developed a strong reputation - and his arrival in Cumbria addresses a real priority for Paul Simpson.
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Carlisle were without a senior stopper after Magnus Norman turned down a new deal at Brunton Park - with Mark Howard having been released at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
And Simpson was delighted to get a key signing over the line.
“He’s a keeper I’ve known about for years,” he said, speaking to the club's official website.
“He’s done really well at Ipswich, and he’s had a couple of good loans, and obviously when I found he was being released and available I knew it was something I’d be interested in.
“I had a number of conversations with Greg [Abbott] and my other staff about him, and we spoke to people who know him, and I’ve got to say that everybody has said the same thing – he’s not only a top player, he’s a top quality person and an excellent professional as well.
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“I had a facetime meeting with him a couple of weeks ago, and he came across as a very good individual and someone I want to work with.
“He’s really keen on the whole Carlisle project that we want to get going here and I’m delighted that he’s jumped on board.
“It’s a really big position to fill and I think he does that for us really well. I’ve never talked about it but I’m fully aware of the criticism I received when we released Mark Howard, but from a footballing point of view, and where I want the football club to go, I’m just delighted that Tomas has agreed to sign.”
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